Double-sided fingerprint sensor

ABSTRACT

A sensor has parallel upper pickup lines in an upper conductive layer, parallel lower pickup lines in a lower conductive layer, parallel drive lines oriented transversely to the upper and lower pickup lines in a middle conductive layer, a first insulating layer separating the upper pickup lines from the drive lines, and a second insulating layer opposite the first insulating layer and separating the lower pickup lines from the drive lines. Upper electrode pairs are defined at locations where an upper pickup electrode crosses a drive line, and each upper electrode pair has an impedance that is sensitive to a first object contacting or in close proximity to the upper electrode pair. Lower electrode pairs are defined at locations where a lower pickup line crosses a drive line, and each lower electrode pair has an impedance that is sensitive to a second object contacting or in close proximity to the lower electrode pair.

CROSS REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of thefiling date of provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/183,422 filedJun. 23, 2015, the disclosure which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates to sensors for the electronic sensing of objectslocated near or about the sensor, such as epidermal ridge patternscommonly known as fingerprints.

BACKGROUND

Fingerprint sensors comprising electrodes for measuring characteristicsin a finger surface are well known. For example, U.S. Pat. No.7,110,577, U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,679, U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,970, U.S. Pat.No. 8,866,347 and Ser. No. 14/582,359 describe sensors based ondifferent impedance or capacitance measurement principles withstrip-shaped or matrix sensors comprising a number of individual sensorelements.

Fingerprint sensors are found in all kind of devices such as PC's,tablets, smart phones and smart cards for the security and ease of useit provides. The widespread use of fingerprint sensors may also providea security problem as fingerprint sensors have been spoofed by spooffingerprints produced from latent fingerprints. Current art fingerprintsensors typically attempt to mitigate this problem with additionalsecurity measures, such as live finger detection, at the cost ofincreased false rejection of fingerprints and reduced ease of use. Thereis, therefore, a need in the industry for an improved fingerprint sensorthat is specifically architected to improve the anti-spoof protectionwithout degrading the ease of use of the fingerprint sensor.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some aspects described herein. This summary is not anextensive overview of the subject matter described herein. It isintended to neither identify key or critical elements of the subjectmatter nor delineate the scope of any later claimed subject matter. Itssole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

Aspects of the disclosure are embodied in a sensor comprising aplurality of substantially parallel upper pickup lines in an upperconductive layer, a plurality of substantially parallel lower pickuplines in a lower conductive layer, a plurality of substantially paralleldrive lines oriented transversely to the plurality of pickup lines in amiddle conductive layer, a first insulating layer separating theplurality of upper pickup lines from the plurality of drive lines, asecond insulating layer opposite the first insulating layer andseparating the plurality of lower pickup lines from the plurality ofdrive lines, a plurality of upper electrode pairs, each upper electrodepair being defined at a location where an upper pickup line crosses adrive line, wherein each upper electrode pair has an impedance that issensitive to a first object contacting or in close proximity to theupper electrode pair, and a plurality of lower electrode pairs, eachlower electrode pair being defined at a location where a lower pickupline crosses a drive line, wherein each lower electrode pair has animpedance that is sensitive to a second object contacting or in closeproximity to the lower electrode pair.

According to further aspects the upper pickup lines are aligned with thelower pickup lines.

According to further aspects the upper pickup lines and the lower pickuplines are oriented substantially perpendicular to the drive lines.

According to further aspects the middle conductive layer comprisesupper, substantially parallel drive lines, lower, substantially paralleldrive lines aligned with the upper drive lines, a third insulating layerseparating the upper drive lines from the lower drive lines, and aplurality of interconnects pairwise connecting each upper drive line toa lower drive line.

According to further aspects the lower and upper drive lines areinterconnected by a conductive via extending through the thirdinsulating layer.

According to further aspects the lower and upper drive line(s) areinterconnected by conductive element(s) extending beyond the thirdinsulating layer.

According to further aspects, the insulating layer is made of glass,fiberglass, polycarbonate glass, polymer, a semiconductor material, or alayered composite material.

Aspects of the disclosure are embodied in a sensor system comprising aplurality of substantially parallel upper pickup lines in an upperconductive layer, a plurality of substantially parallel lower pickuplines in a lower conductive layer, a plurality of substantially paralleldrive lines each of which is oriented transversely to the plurality ofpickup lines in a middle conductive layer, a first insulating layerseparating the plurality of upper pickup lines from the plurality ofdrive lines, a second insulating layer opposite the first insulatinglayer and separating the plurality of lower pickup lines from theplurality of drive lines, a plurality of upper electrode pairs, eachupper electrode pair being defined at a location where an upper pickupline crosses a drive line, wherein each upper electrode pair has animpedance that is sensitive to a first object contacting or in closeproximity to the upper electrode pair, a plurality of lower electrodepairs, each lower electrode pair being defined at a location where alower pickup line crosses a drive line, wherein each lower electrodepair has an impedance that is sensitive to a second object contacting orin close proximity to the lower electrode pair. A signal source isconfigured to provide a signal to at least one of the drive lines, andthe at least one drive line is configured to transmit the signal to thefirst and second objects. A detection system is configured to detect aresultant impedance on at least one of the upper electrode pairs and atleast one of the lower electrode pairs, and the resultant impedances areindicative of the presence of features such as epidermal ridge patternscommonly known as fingerprints of the first and second object.

According to further aspects the upper pickup lines are substantiallyaligned with the lower pickup lines.

According to further aspects the first and second object are sensedsimultaneously or sequentially in rapid succession.

According to further aspects the first and second object are twodifferent fingers.

According to further aspects the upper pickup lines and the lower pickuplines are oriented substantially perpendicular to the drive lines.

According to further aspects the drive lines further comprise upper,substantially parallel drive lines, lower, substantially parallel drivelines aligned with the upper drive lines, a third insulating layerseparating the upper drive lines from the lower drive lines, and aplurality of interconnects pairwise connecting each upper drive line toa lower drive line.

According to further aspects the drive lines further comprising an upperconductive layer of substantially parallel electrodes, a lowerconductive layer of substantially parallel electrodes aligned with thesubstantially parallel electrodes of the upper conductive layer, a thirdinsulating layer separating the upper conductive layer may be split withone common group of substantially parallel drive lines that formimpedance sensitive junctions with both the upper and lower electrodes.

According to further aspects the lower and upper drive lines areinterconnected by a conductive via extending through the thirdinsulating layer.

According to further aspects the lower and upper drive lines areinterconnected by a conductive element extending beyond the thirdinsulating layer.

According to further aspects, the third insulating layer is made ofglass, fiberglass, polycarbonate glass, polymer, a semiconductormaterial or a layered composite material.

Other features and characteristics of the subject matter of thisdisclosure, as well as the methods of operation, functions of relatedelements of structure and the combination of parts, and economies ofmanufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of thefollowing description with reference to the accompanying drawings, allof which form a part of this specification, wherein like referencenumerals designate corresponding parts in the various figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form partof the specification, illustrate various embodiments of the subjectmatter of this disclosure. In the drawings, like reference numbersindicate identical or functionally similar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a top perspective view of a sensor according to anembodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a top perspective view of a sensor according to analternate embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top perspective view of a sensor system accordingto an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While aspects of the subject matter of the present disclosure may beembodied in a variety of forms, the following description andaccompanying drawings are merely intended to disclose some of theseforms as specific examples of the subject matter. Accordingly, thesubject matter of this disclosure is not intended to be limited to theforms or embodiments so described and illustrated.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms of art, notations and othertechnical terms or terminology used herein have the same meaning as iscommonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which thisdisclosure belongs. All patents, applications, published applicationsand other publications referred to herein are incorporated by referencein their entirety. If a definition set forth in this section is contraryto or otherwise inconsistent with a definition set forth in the patents,applications, published applications, and other publications that areherein incorporated by reference, the definition set forth in thissection prevails over the definition that is incorporated herein byreference.

Unless otherwise indicated or the context suggests otherwise, as usedherein, “a” or “an” means “at least one” or “one or more.”

This description may use relative spatial and/or orientation terms indescribing the position and/or orientation of a component, apparatus,location, feature, or a portion thereof. Unless specifically stated, orotherwise dictated by the context of the description, such terms,including, without limitation, top, bottom, above, below, under, on topof, upper, lower, left of, right of, in front of, behind, next to,adjacent, between, horizontal, vertical, diagonal, longitudinal,transverse, radial, axial, etc., are used for convenience in referringto such component, apparatus, location, feature, or a portion thereof inthe drawings and are not intended to be limiting.

Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, any specific dimensions mentionedin this description are merely representative of an exemplaryimplementation of a device embodying aspects of the disclosure and arenot intended to be limiting.

The present disclosure relates to an electronic sensor for detectingproximally located objects. In an embodiment, the sensor is afingerprint sensor that detects surface features (e.g., ridges andvalleys) of two fingers placed on the electronic sensor. In anembodiment, the electronic sensor operates based on interaction betweena pair of electrodes that include a drive element and a pickup element.The pickup element may be capacitively coupled to the drive element andmay sense a signal that passes from the drive element to the pickupelement. Features of a proximally located object can be detected basedon whether the sensor detects a change in a signal being received at thepickup element.

In an embodiment, the electronic sensor includes a top, or upper,conductive grid and a bottom, or lower, conductive grid configured todetect surface features of two proximally located objects at a pluralityof locations on two sides of the sensor. The top and bottom grids eachinclude a plurality of parallel drive lines, which are each connectableto a drive source, and a plurality of parallel pickup lines that areoriented transversely (e.g., perpendicularly) to the drive lines. Thedrive lines are separated from the pickup lines by an insulating (e.g.,dielectric) layer. Each drive line may thus be capacitively coupled to apickup line. In the embodiment, the drive lines can form one axis (e.g.,X-axis) of the grid, while the pickup lines form another axis (e.g.,Y-axis) of the grid. Each location where a drive line and a pickup linecross may form an impedance-sensitive electrode pair. Thisimpedance-sensitive electrode pair may be treated as a pixel (e.g., anX-Y coordinate) at which a surface feature of the proximally locatedobject is detected. The top and bottom grids form a plurality of pixelsthat can collectively be scanned to create a map of the surface featuresof the proximally located object. For instance, the pixels of the gridcan differentiate locations where there is a ridge of a fingertiptouching the electronic sensor and locations where there is a valley ofthe fingerprint. The map can be used as a pattern to match withridge/valley patterns stored in a database. The grid sensor may createmaps of two different fingers at the same time, typically a thumb and anindex finger pinching the grid sensor. This makes it very difficult tofind, develop, and align individual latent prints at the correct anglesin order to spoof the sensor. The biomechanical angle of index print tothumb print may also be used as a secondary biometric. A prior artversion of a fingerprint sensor with overlapping drive lines and pickuplines is discussed in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 8,421,890, entitled“Electronic imager using an impedance sensor grid array and method ofmaking” and U.S. application Ser. No. 14/582,359, entitled “Fingerprintsensor employing an integrated noise rejection structure,” therespective contents of which are incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of an exemplary sensor structure 100. Thesensor 100 includes a middle conductive layer comprising a plurality ofdrive elements 101, an upper conductive layer comprising a plurality ofupper pickup elements 102, and a lower conductive layer comprising aplurality of lower pickup elements 103. In one embodiment, the driveelements 101 may be formed or etched as elongated, flat strips (i.e.,width greater than thickness) of conductive material (e.g., copper,aluminum, gold) that are substantially parallel to each other and whichmay also be referred to as drive lines or drive plates. The upper andlower pickup elements 102, 103 may be formed or etched as elongated,flat strips of conductive material (e.g., copper, aluminum, gold) thatare substantially parallel to each other and which may also be referredto as pickup lines or pickup plates. In an embodiment, the upper pickupelements 102 may be aligned with the lower pickup elements 103. A firstinsulating layer 104 made of a dielectric material separates the drivelines 101 and the upper pickup lines 102. The drive elements 101 and theupper pickup elements 102 are oriented transversely to each other, andin one embodiment, are substantially perpendicular to each other,thereby forming an area of overlap between the drive lines 101 and thecrossing upper pickup lines 102. A second insulating layer 105 made of adielectric material separates the drive lines 101 and the lower pickuplines 103. The drive elements 101 and the lower pickup elements 103 areoriented transversely to each other, and in one embodiment, aresubstantially perpendicular to each other, thereby forming an area ofoverlap between the drive lines 101 and the lower crossing pickup lines103.

Each location where a drive element 101 and a pickup element 102, 103cross forms an impedance-sensitive electrode pair—drive elements 101 andupper pickup elements 102 forming upper electrode pairs and driveelements 101 and lower pickup elements 103 forming lower electrodepairs. When no object is in contact with or in close proximity to theimpedance-sensitive electrode pair, the impedance-sensitive electrodepair has a first impedance determined by the size of the parallel platecapacitor formed by the electrode pair, which is a function of thedimensions of the drive element 101 and dimensions of the pickupelements 102, 103 and the thickness and dielectric properties of theinsulating layers 104, 105. In one embodiment, the widths of the driveelements 101 and the pickup elements 102, 103 are equal, and thus thearea of overlap defined by the width of the drive line and the width ofthe pickup line has equal width and length. Other configurations arepossible in which the width of the drive elements 101 and the pickupelements 102, 103 are different. For example, in one embodiment, thewidth of each of the drive elements 101 is greater than (e.g., twice)the width of each of the pickup elements 102, 103, or vice versa.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of an exemplary sensor structure 200according to an alternate embodiment. The sensor 200 includes a firstupper conductive layer comprising a plurality of upper drive elements207, a second upper conductive layer comprising a plurality of upperpickup elements 202, a first lower conductive layer comprising aplurality of lower drive elements 208, and a second lower conductivelayer comprising a plurality of lower pickup elements 203. In oneembodiment, the drive elements 207, 208 may be formed or etched aselongated, flat strips of conductive material (e.g., copper, aluminum,gold) that are substantially parallel to each other and which may alsobe referred to as drive lines or drive plates. The pickup elements 202,203 may be formed or etched as elongated, flat strips of conductivematerial (e.g., copper, aluminum, gold) that are substantially parallelto each other and which may also be referred to as pickup lines orpickup plates. A first insulating layer 204 made of a dielectricmaterial separates the upper drive elements 207 and the upper pickupelements 202. A second insulating layer 205 made of a dielectricmaterial separates the lower drive elements 208 and the lower pickupelements 203. The drive elements 207, 208 and the pickup elements 202,203 are oriented transversely to each other and, in one embodiment, aresubstantially perpendicular to each other, thereby forming an area ofoverlap between the drive elements 207, 208 and the crossing pickupelements 202, 203.

In one embodiment, the sensor 200 includes a third insulating layer 206separating the first upper conductive layer of substantially parallelelectrodes 207 and the first lower conductive layer of substantiallyparallel electrodes 208. The upper drive elements 207 and lower driveelements 208 are pairwise connected by interconnects 209 to form driveelements 201. In one embodiment, the upper drive elements 207 and lowerdrive elements 208 may be interconnected by a via extending through thethird insulating layer 206. In another embodiment the upper driveelements 207 and lower drive elements 208 may be interconnected by aconductive element extending beyond the third insulating layer 206. Inone embodiment the third insulating layer 206 may be made of glass,fiberglass, polycarbonate glass, polymer, semiconductor material or alayered composite material.

Each location where a drive element 201, i.e., upper drive element 207and lower drive 208, and an upper and lower pickup element 202, 203cross forms an impedance-sensitive electrode pair—upper drive elements207 and upper pickup elements 202 forming upper impedance-sensitivepairs, and lower drive elements 208 and lower pickup elements 203forming lower impedance-sensitive pairs. When no object is in contactwith or in close proximity to the impedance-sensitive electrode pair,the impedance-sensitive electrode pair has a first impedance determinedby the size of the parallel plate capacitor formed by the electrodepair, which is a function of the dimensions of the drive elements 207,208 and dimensions of the pickup elements 202, 203, and the thicknessand dielectric properties of the insulating layers 204, 205, 206. In oneembodiment, the widths of the drive elements 207, 208 and the pickupelements 202, 203 are equal, and thus the area of overlap defined by thewidth of the drive elements 207, 208 and the width of the pickupelements 202, 203 has equal width and length. Other configurations arepossible in which the width of the drive elements 207, 208 and thepickup elements 202, 203 are different. For example, in one embodiment,the width of each of the drive elements 207, 208 is greater than (e.g.,twice) the width of each of the pickup elements 202, 203 or vice versa.

FIG. 3 illustrates a portion of a sensor system comprising a sensor 200and an ASIC 300. Sensor 200 is comparable to the sensor 200 shown inFIG. 2. Alternatively, the sensor system as illustrated in FIG. 3 couldencompass a sensor 100 as shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the ASIC 300 includes a signal sourceconnected to the drive elements 207, 208 by a connector 301 to provide asignal to at least one of the drive elements 207, 208. ASIC 300 furtherincludes a detection system configured to detect a resultant impedanceon at least one of the upper electrode pairs and one of the lowerelectrode pairs, where the resultant impedances are indicative of thepresence of a ridge and valley features of a first object over the upperelectrode pairs and a second object under the lower electrode pairs. Inone embodiment the first object and second object are sensedsimultaneously or sequentially in rapid succession. In an embodiment,the first and second objects are alternately sensed in subsections thatcan be reconstructed into complete images. In another embodiment, thefirst and second objects are one thumb and one non-thumb finger of thesame hand and the angular relationship between the two is measured as asecondary user biometric.

In one embodiment the first object and second object are two differentfingers, e.g., a thumb and an index finger.

In one embodiment the insulating layer 206 constitutes a part of asubstrate material larger than the finger print sensing area, i.e., asubstrate that encapsulates the ASIC 300 and covers connectors 301, 302and 304 to create an integrated finger print sensor module. In theintegrated sensor module, the upper pickup lines 202 are connected tothe ASIC by connectors 304 and vias 305, and the lower pickup lines 203are connected to the ASIC 300 by connectors 302 under the insulatinglayer 206 and vias 303 through insulating layer 205. The upper driveelements 207 and lower drive elements 208 of the drive elements 201 areinterconnected by vias 209 through the insulating layer 206 andconnected to the ASIC 300 by connectors 301.

While the subject matter of this disclosure has been described and shownin considerable detail with reference to certain illustrativeembodiments, including various combinations and sub-combinations offeatures, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate otherembodiments and variations and modifications thereof as encompassedwithin the scope of the present disclosure. Moreover, the descriptionsof such embodiments, combinations, and sub-combinations is not intendedto convey that the claimed subject matter requires features orcombinations of features other than those expressly recited in anyclaims. Accordingly, the scope of this disclosure is intended to includeall modifications and variations encompassed within the spirit and scopeof the any appended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A sensor, comprising: a plurality ofsubstantially parallel upper pickup lines; a plurality of substantiallyparallel lower pickup lines; a plurality of substantially parallel drivelines oriented transversely to, and disposed between, the pluralities ofupper and lower pickup lines; a first insulating layer separating theplurality of upper pickup lines from the plurality of drive lines; asecond insulating layer opposite the first insulating layer, andseparating the plurality of lower pickup lines from the plurality ofdrive lines; a plurality of upper electrode pairs, each upper electrodepair being defined at a location where an upper pickup electrode crossesa drive line, wherein each upper electrode pair has an impedance that issensitive to a first object contacting or in close proximity to theupper electrode pair; and a plurality of lower electrode pairs, eachlower electrode pair being defined at a location where a lower pickupelectrode crosses a drive line, wherein each lower electrode pair has animpedance that is sensitive to a second object contacting or in closeproximity to the lower electrode pair.
 2. The sensor of claim 1, whereinthe upper pickup lines and the lower pickup lines are orientedsubstantially perpendicular to the drive lines.
 3. The sensor of any oneof claim 1, wherein the plurality of substantially parallel drive linescomprise: upper, substantially parallel drive lines; lower,substantially parallel drive lines aligned with the upper drive lines; athird insulating layer separating the upper drive lines from the lowerdrive lines; and a plurality of interconnects pairwise connecting eachupper drive line to a lower drive line.
 4. The sensor of claim 3,wherein the lower and upper drive lines are interconnected by conductivevias extending through the third insulating layer.
 5. The sensor ofclaim 3, wherein the lower and upper drive lines are interconnected byconductive elements extending beyond the third insulating layer.
 6. Thefingerprint sensor of claim 3, wherein the third insulating layer ismade of one or more materials selected from the group of materialsconsisting of glass, fiberglass, polycarbonate glass, polymer, asemiconductor material, and a layered composite material.
 7. Afingerprint sensor system, comprising: a plurality of substantiallyparallel upper pickup lines; a plurality of substantially parallel lowerpickup lines; a plurality of substantially parallel drive lines orientedtransversely to, and disposed between, the plurality of upper pickuplines and the plurality of lower pickup lines; a first insulating layerseparating the plurality of upper pickup lines from the plurality ofdrive lines; a second insulating layer opposite the first insulatinglayer and separating the plurality of lower pickup lines from theplurality of drive lines; a plurality of upper electrode pairs, eachupper electrode pair being defined at a location where an upper pickupline crosses a drive line, wherein each upper electrode pair has animpedance that is sensitive to a first object contacting or in closeproximity to the upper electrode pair; a plurality of lower electrodepairs, each lower electrode pair being defined at a location where alower pickup line crosses a drive line, wherein each lower electrodepair has an impedance that is sensitive to a second object contacting orin close proximity to the lower electrode pair; a signal sourceconfigured to provide a signal to at least one of the drive lines, wherethe at least one drive line is configured to transmit the signal to theupper and lower electrode pairs; and a detection system configured todetect a resultant impedance on at least one of the upper electrodepairs and at least one of the lower electrode pairs, wherein theresultant impedances are indicative of the presence of ridge and valleyfeatures of the first and second object.
 8. The sensor system of claim7, wherein the first and second objects are sensed simultaneously or inrapid succession.
 9. The sensor system of claim 7, wherein the first andsecond objects are one thumb and one non-thumb finger of the same hand,wherein the angular relationship between the thumb and non-thumb fingeris measured as a secondary user biometric.
 10. The sensor system ofclaim 7, wherein the upper pickup lines and the lower pickup lines areoriented substantially perpendicular to the drive lines.
 11. The sensorsystem of claim 7, wherein the drive lines further comprise: upper,substantially parallel drive lines; lower, substantially parallel drivealigned with the upper drive lines; a third insulating layer separatingthe upper drive lines from the lower drive lines; and a plurality ofinterconnects pairwise connecting each upper drive line to a lower driveline.
 12. The sensor system of claim 11, wherein the lower and upperdrive lines are interconnected by conductive vias extending through thethird insulating layer.
 13. The sensor system of claim 11, wherein thelower and upper drive lines are interconnected by conductive elementsextending beyond the third insulating layer.
 14. The sensor system ofclaim 11, wherein the third insulating layer is made of one or morematerials selected from the group consisting of glass, fiberglass,polycarbonate glass, polymer, a semiconductor material, and a layeredcomposite material.
 15. A two-sided fingerprint sensor assembly,comprising: a first sensor side comprising upper pickup elements; asecond sensor side in opposed relationship to the first sensor side andcomprising lower pickup elements; drive elements disposed between theupper pickup elements and the lower pickup elements; a first insulatinglayer disposed between the drive elements and the upper pickup elements;a second insulating layer disposed between the drive elements and thelower pickup elements; a signal source configured to provide a drivesignal to at least one of the drive elements that is configured totransmit the drive signal to the upper and lower pickup elements; and adetection system configured to sense the signal transmitted by the driveelement to the upper and lower pickup elements and configured to detectfeatures of a first fingerprint located proximately to the first sensorside based on a change in signal being received at the upper pickupelements and to detect features of a second fingerprint locatedproximately to the second sensor side based on changes in signal beingreceived at the lower pickup elements.
 16. The fingerprint sensorassembly of claim 15, wherein the upper pickup elements comprise aplurality of substantially parallel upper pickup lines, the lower pickupelements comprise a plurality of substantially parallel lower pickuplines, and the drive elements comprise a plurality of substantiallyparallel drive lines oriented transversely to the pluralities of upperand lower pickup lines.
 17. The fingerprint sensor assembly of claim 16,wherein the upper pickup lines and the lower pickup lines are orientedsubstantially perpendicular to the drive lines.
 18. The fingerprintsensor assembly of claim 15, wherein the drive elements comprise: alayer of upper drive elements; a layer of lower drive elements; a thirdinsulating layer separating the upper drive elements from the lowerdrive elements; and a plurality of interconnects connecting the upperdrive elements to the lower drive elements through or around the thirdinsulating layer.
 19. The fingerprint sensor assembly of claim 18,wherein the layer of upper drive elements comprises upper, substantiallyparallel drive lines, the layer of lower drive elements comprises lower,substantially parallel drive lines aligned with the upper drive lines,and wherein the plurality of interconnects each upper drive linepairwise to a lower drive line.
 20. The fingerprint sensor assembly ofclaim 18, wherein the third insulating layer is made of one or morematerials selected from the group of materials consisting of glass,fiberglass, polycarbonate glass, polymer, a semiconductor material, anda layered composite material.
 21. The fingerprint sensor assembly ofclaim 15, wherein the first fingerprint and the second fingerprint aredetected simultaneously or in rapid succession.
 22. The fingerprintsensor assembly of claim 15, wherein the first fingerprint and thesecond fingerprint are one thumb print and one non-thumb fingerprint ofthe same hand, wherein the angular relationship between the thumb andnon-thumb finger is measured as a secondary user biometric.
 23. Thesensor of claim 1, wherein the plurality of substantially parallel drivelines comprises a single layer of drive lines, and wherein each upperelectrode pair is defined at a location where each upper pickupelectrode crosses a respective drive line of the single layer of drivelines, and each lower electrode pair is defined at a location where eachlower pickup electrode crosses a respective drive line of the singlelayer of drive lines.
 24. The sensor system of claim 7, wherein theplurality of substantially parallel drive lines comprises a single layerof drive lines, and wherein each upper electrode pair is defined at alocation where each upper pickup electrode crosses a respective driveline of the single layer of drive lines, and each lower electrode pairis defined at a location where each lower pickup electrode crosses arespective drive line of the single layer of drive lines.
 25. Thefingerprint sensor assembly of claim 15, wherein the drive elementscomprise a single layer of drive elements, and the fingerprint sensorassembly further comprises: a plurality of upper electrode pairs, eachupper electrode pair is defined at a location where each upper pickupelement crosses a respective drive element of the single layer of driveelements, wherein each upper electrode pair has an impedance that issensitive to an object contacting or in close proximity to the upperelectrode pair; and a plurality of lower electrode pairs, each lowerelectrode pair is defined at a location where each lower pickup elementcrosses a respective drive element of the single layer of drive lines,wherein each lower electrode pair has an impedance that is sensitive toa second object contacting or in close proximity to the lower electrodepair.